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Russian Trade Unions Oppose New Labour Code
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Russian trade union leaders are claiming the government’s draft Labour Code is “the code of people’s misfortunes.” And are organizing demonstrations against the code throughout the country. However, the Minister of Labour Alexander Pochinok, although convinced of the adequacy of the draft, has said he is willing to compromise.
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On Thursday, December 14th, Russian trade unions throughout the country launched a “week of action aimed against adoption of the new Labour Code”. The Trade Unions are opposing the adoption of the draft Labour Code elaborated by the government.
The trade unionists are insisting that a draft Labour Code elaborated by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions in cooperation with a group of deputies from the State Duma’s Committee for Labour and Social Policies be adopted instead.
Trade union activists are planning to organize protests in Moscow to coincide with a review by the lower house of the proposed new Labour Code on December 20 - 21. The head of the Labour Ministry Alexander Pochinok said on Thursday that his agency was prepared to set up a conciliatory commission to review all alternative drafts for a new Labour Code.
Currently, the Soviet-era Labour Code adopted in 1971 is still in force. Since the Code was written and adopted in the golden years of ‘developed socialism’ in the Soviet Union, it is hopelessly outdated, despite the numerous amendments over the past twenty years.
The first variant of the new draft Labour Code was elaborated by the Ministry of Labour and submitted to the lower house, the State Duma, in 1999. The house was almost unanimous in its opposition to the draft.
However, the State Duma deputies realized that a new Labour Code is vitally important for the nation’s economic development.
The Communists and Yabloko factions in the state Duma both submitted alternative drafts, unsurprisingly radically different from each other, but neither the cabinet nor the rest of the Duma were satisfied with either.
The Labour Ministry’s draft Labour Code significantly extends employers’ rights. The ministry claims the draft would help strengthen employers’ positions and, subsequently, will have a favourable affect on the economy. Employers and employees would conclude a fixed-period employment contract. At present, most employment contracts do not stipulate for a fixed employment termination date.
The government is seeking to minimize the trade union’s role in hiring and sacking personnel. Under the current code, trade unions enjoy wide powers– for instance, their consent is necessary to dismiss an employee.
The labour Ministry’s draft also stipulates for a reduction of maternity leave. Presently, working mothers are entitled to three-years leave, four months fully paid and receive the minimal wage for the remaining period.
Currently employees who combine work with studies are entitled to paid leave during exam sessions in educational institutions. The new draft code states that only employees studying subjects relative to their work should be granted paid leave.
At a news conference on Thursday the head of Labour Ministry Alexander Pochinok (formerly the Tax Minister), asserted that the ministry’s draft Code was examined by the International Labour Organization, which concluded that the draft complied with international labour codes.
Nevertheless, the deputy chairman of the State Duma Labour and Social Policy Committee Andrey Isayev told Gazeta.Ru on Thursday that the proposed draft “curbs the real rights of citizens”.
Isayev informed us that a group of eight Duma deputies along with the Federation of Trade Unions (FNPR) “have urgently elaborated” their own draft Labour Code.
Their variant is a significantly revised and amended variation of the current Labour Code. According to Isayev the trade unions’ draft includes clauses to fine employers who fail to pay wages on time, and in case a company refuses to hire a person, will be obliged to provide a written explanation of their decision.
FNPR representative Gennady Khodokov informed Gazeta.Ru that over 20 thousand union members have already held demonstrations in the cities of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Chelyabinsk, Samara, Tyumen and Penza against the new draft code.
Unions are planning to hold demonstrations in Moscow on December 20-21 and will protest opposite the State Duma building as the parliamentarians discuss the adoption of the new Code. They predict that 20 thousand union members will attend.
At a news conference on Thursday, the Minister of Labour Alexander Pochinok appealed to workers not to demonstrate and instead stay at home and carefully read the ministry’s draft. The Minister complained that most people opposed to his ministry’s draft have not actually read it.
Then, Pochinok suggested a conciliatory commission should be formed to work out a compromise. The cabinet is prepared “for constructive and serious discussion of various variants of Labour Code,” Pochinok said.
Sergey Ivashko
15 Декабря » 15:26
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